Finding a Way
by Zaekora
Summary: When Chihiro is lured back to the Spirit World, she finds that Yubaba's gotten worse. They suspect she's gone insane. What can Chihiro do to save her friends and the bathhouse when Yubaba threatens Chihiro? (It's long. but the chapters are short.........)
1. Saved

||Disclaimer: This goes for the entire story! I don't own Spirited Away or the original characters (Unfortunately, I don't won Haku either x.X'), but I own the plot and original characters (If any come up...).||  
  
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Chihiro sat on top of the cliff, above the river, that reminded her so much of where she wanted to be. She came to this spot whenever free time slithered along. She always talked in her mind, not knowing if anyone was listening, yet hoping they would. When she came up to this cliff, about a half mile from her house, she never felt lonely. She felt like the presence of her TRUE friends were lingering in the air. She missed them so much. What she souldn't do to see Kamajii, Zeniba, Kaonashi, Rin, and Haku again. She's give anything.  
  
It had been a year and a half from the day her life changed, when she returned to the human world. She found that she had enjoyed the spirit world so much more. For a while, she had to break the habit of remaining awake in the night and sleeping in the day. She never told anyone - who would believe her? Not even her parents- no, she had no parents. Not true ones. She'd been adopted at the age of seven. She knew that what everyone told her was a lie, somehow. She had a strange sense, a feeling, that they were lying. They'd told her that her parents had died in a car crash when the brakes failed. They also said that Chihiro was with a babysitter at that time. But something had told her that that was not true.  
  
Every once in a while, something came to her mind. What if she had looked back? The day Haku told her not to, when she crossed the field back to her home. No, this was not a home. Not to her. She'd always actually enjoyed work at the bathhouse. She had friends, adventures, and she had changed. She'd grown stronger, not only physiclly.  
  
She sighed, looking down at the river in thought. Sometimes she visited the apartments where the Kohaku River had been. Whenever she visited there, she felt sorrowful. Sad. Lonely...  
  
As she looked at the river, she could have sworn she had seen some sort of silver streak. Memories came, that were never forgotten. Haku? Could it be? She stared at the water, for what seemed like a half hour, eyes wide for any signs of him. She accepted defeat reluctantly and sighed, getting up.  
  
"Good-bye..." she muttered, mostly to herself, and looked sadly down at the river before turning and heading to the forest. She had made a small trail for herself to bike along, although it crossed the river. She hopped on her silver bike, quickly peddling along the trail. She drifted off to thought. Mom would be so angry if she was late for dinner...again. She glanced to her side, down at the river, and grinned. There was quite a long fall from where she was riding to the river.  
  
She kept her eyes ahead of her. Suddenly, a large black bird-like creature swooped down in front of her, and chihiro could have sworn it flashed an evil smirk to her. Did that look like Yubaba in bird form, or was Chihiro hallucinating?  
  
Suddenly, Chihiro jerked to a stop. Her bike hit a large rock, one that she had definately never seen before in her path. She was thrown forward, off her bike and down the steep rocky hill towards the river. She couldn't find it in herself to scream, noticing many sharp gasps that she let out as she felt pain in her side and arms. She landed in the river with a splat, feeling both pain and relief. She struggled for a minute, then let go, drifting off into unconciousness as she could no longer fight the rapids.  
  
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Hours later, Chihiro awoke on the dirty ground, coughing up water and gasping for air. When she looked up, to her surprise, she saw the tunnel - the entrance to the spirit world. 'What am I doing here?' she thought. 


	2. Old Friends

Chihiro stepped into the dark, cold tunnel. There MUST have been a reason that she had been brought here. She broke into a run, feeling a heavy chill run up and down her spine. She stumbled slightly when she stopped and gazed at the fields of long green grass. It was nearly night, and would not be long until they started lighting the lamps in the town.  
  
Chihiro began dashing across the field, feeling the wetness on her socks as water slowly began to rise in the river. Chihiro noticed that the lamps were lit, and that black spirits were sliding around the town. She grabbed for the stairs as the water was waist deep, and climbed up them, panting slowly as she stared at the rising river. There was no turning back now, she was sure of it, but that did not bother her. It wasn't as if she had a life back there...  
  
She got up after a few minutes while seeing the ferry, and ran through the town, looking around. The big black blobs that were spirits seemed to not bother her, she only jumped back when one approached her. She looked around for her friends, for any sign of them. She noticed something like a clock tower, dashing towards it. She knew the bridge was supposed to be empty now, because the bathhouse was only just opening. But when she reached the top, she saw spirits crowded everywhere, and frog workers trying to push them back, away from the bridge. What was going on?  
  
She took a deep breath, holding it, and sneaking behind a large black slithering spirit - a shadow spirit. She waited patiently as it crossed the bridge, her having no trouble as it shoved frogs and spirits aside to get through. Once it was across the bridge, she dashed around the corner to find the door, desperately pushing at it to open it without thinking. She rammed it with her shoulder and it burst open, causing her to fall through. She gasped at this, then took sharp intakes of breath. She quickly shoved the door shut, trying to make her breathing silent and quickly skittered away towards the large stairs.  
  
Although she wasn't AS clumsy any more, she still needed to be careful on these large stairs. she noted that her arms ached as she reached down to test each step, as well as her side, which was bruised. She only stumbled once, yet made it down without slamming painfully into a wall. She almost laughed to herself, thinking if her face was imprinted on the wall at the bottom. Of course it wasn't, she thought. She grinned to herself all the way to the boiler room's door, then put on a look of determination and happiness. She yanked the door, opening it, and stepped in.  
  
The loud noises of the boiler room and the distant squeaks of the susuwatari (sp?) ran through her ears, and she suddenly got a warm feeling inside of her. She jogged to the corner and looked around. The suswatari began to squeak uncontrollably, jumping up and down as a thin woman walked in, holding a basket and a bowl. She walked to Kamajii, who was watching her, and handed him the bowl, grabbing one on a platform near her, then walked to where the susuwatari were bouncing around crazily and grinned, bending down. She grabbed some of the sugar stars (or whatever they are) from the basket, throwing to the little soot balls, who each pushed a few away for themselves. She dumped the rest of them when she was finished, and headed for the exit, but something was standing in her way.  
  
Chihiro had wandered out, in front of the door, waiting to be noticed by either Kamajii or Rin. Rin had a mixed expression of confusion and shock as she stared at Chihiro for a moment, then nearly tackled her in a hug, dropping the basket and bowl carelessly, allowing the bowl to shatter. Rin didn't care. She sweeped Chihiro into a tight hug, her face lit up with excitement.  
  
"Oh, Sen, you're back! I- I mean we've missed you so much, you have no idea! Things have been TERRBILE here! Just horrible! Yubaba is acting insane and tripling our work, and just stays up there to herself, we havn't seen Haku in a month or so, and she feeds us less to top it!" She said quickly, Chihiro only catching a few parts to it.  
  
"What? Yubaba is insane and Haku is gone?!" Chihiro said loudly, without realizing it. "What's going on, what happened on the bridge?"  
  
Rin looked down at her, both of their bright expressions changing to worried, sad ones, Rin changing slightly angered. "Yubaba sort of...snapped, not long after you left. Things got hectic. One day, Haku just stopped showing up everywhere. No one knows what happened to him. And Yubaba won't let anyone in her office anymore. It may be partly though because Boh, 'her baby', ran away. Tonight she gave orders not to let anyone in, for she was expecting something..." Rin said thoughtfully.  
  
Chihiro sighed slightly. "Boh ran away?" she asked, noticing that she was asking the obvious.  
  
Rin ignored the question, continuing. "And, Sen, she keeps muttering something about you and payback...or revenge. Watch your back, I think she's got something planned." Rin said, tilting her head slightly in thought to herself, shrugging, and walking out.  
  
After Rin had gone, Chihiro thought this over, then greeted Kamajii and began to talk to him for a while, before there was a bang from outside the door, and a shout. 


	3. BlackMail

Three frog workers stormed in, angered looks on there faces. They rushed to Chihiro and grabbed her, restraining her from her kicks and struggles to get three. Before Kamajii could do anything, they had disappeared from sight, all four of them.  
  
They all appeared in a dark room lit with one lamp, and seemed to have fear. A snapping of fingers was heard and the frogs dropped Chihiro to the ground with a thud, rushing out with terrified looks on there faced. Chihiro lifted her head, sitting on her knees, and clutching her wrist, which she had landed on wrong. She was sitting on a dark red rug, and all around her were dark calls and scattered junk. he noticed a desk, with a moving figure behind it, with evil eyes that stared right at Chihiro.  
  
Yubaba smirked from behind her desk, brushing some of the dusk that had collected from a while back off into small clouds in the dirty air. Chihiro raised her head wearily and seemed tired, looking back at the large angered eyes. They sent shudders down her spine. suddenly, a familiar, yet hoarse, and angery voice, spoke out.  
  
"Ahh, Sen, you have come." she snickered. "I knew you would. Now you can repay me..." she smirked, flicking her finger and making her desk lamp brighter so that Chihiro could see her.  
  
Chihiro gasped out the words, "Yubaba?!" and glanced around nervously, remembering what Rin had said about Yubaba being 'insane.' She shuddered once more, looking back at Yubaba straight in the eyes. "What do you want?" she said, trying her best to keep her voice strong and clear.  
  
"You." she stated simply, a dangerous look in her eye.  
  
Chihiro took a moment to understand, then shook her head stubbornly. "You mean a life's contract." she stated. "Well, I'm not doing it." she said, getting up, some of the fear draining from her.  
  
Yubaba sneered and flicked her hand, sending Chihiro slamming back into the ground in anger. Chihiro noticed something stir in one corner. She groaned in pain, lifting her head. "Sign the contract," Yubaba began, sending a piece of paper and a pen towards Chihiro, "or else." She said with a warning tone.  
  
"Or...or else what?" she said, fixing her voice so that it was loud and sounded angry and brave.  
  
To Chihiro's surprise, Yubaba...smiled! Only this smile was sickeningly sweet, as if she was mocking a kind mood. "This, deary." she said with force, waving her hand. Every single light in the room, even the fireplace, lit up to it's fullest. Yubaba pointed to a corner.  
  
Chihiro looked over quickly, finding herself staring into those familiar emerald green eyes, her own wide with shock, as she managed to stutter his name.  
  
"Ha-Haku..." 


	4. Defeat

Haku was leaned against a dark wall, large ropes wrapped tightly around his body, clearly tied by magic. His eyes were full of pain, shock, confusion, and seemed anxious and desperate. He, too, stuttered.  
  
"Ch-Chihiro?" He gasped out, perking up slightly.  
  
Chihiro felt tears forming in her eyes, as she got on her knees, reaching towards him. Yubaba looked alarmed, and waved a fist. Chihiro cried out slightly and snapped back her hand, grabbing it as if se had just touched a burning stove. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at Yubaba. "What are you going to do?" She asked softly, her voice seeming strangely and uncomfortably soft.  
  
"If you don't sign the contract." Yubaba said, forcing the pen and paper into Chihiro's hand. "Then I'm going to kill him." she hissed, holding a palm up towards Haku. Chihiro and Haku gasped slightly, both knowing that Yubaba would, of course, use her strongest magic. Chihiro stared at Yubaba, in shock, and glanced at the contract in her hand. Of course, she clearly did not have to think about her choice, but when looking at Haku's eyes, which said 'Don't.' She thought for a moment.  
  
Chihiro noticed a small ball of magic swirling near Yubaba's hand, as if telling Chihiro to hurry up it would spring itself at Haku. Chihiro sighed to herself, looking at the contract, and slowly signing her name. Haku looked guilty, and sad, looking at the ground. The contract flew from Chihiro's tight grip, floating into Yubaba's hands delicatly. Yubaba smirked, lifting her hand over the paper as the lettering 'Chihiro Ogino' floated to her hand, and Yubaba made a fist, opening it and only black dust fell out.  
  
Chihiro felt a wave of...loneliness?...come over her body as she shivered slightly. Yubaba muttered something, like a spell, and a dark crimson bolt shot at Chihiro, surrounding her. When it faded, Chihiro was dropped to the ground, unconcious. Haku looked at Chihiro desperatly.  
  
"Chihiro!"  
  
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A/N: Sorry, such a SHORT chapter, but I ran out of ideas and just HAD to leave yeh hanging! XD So long, and please review!! toodle-oooo!  
  
-Zaekora- 


	5. Back in the Boiler Room

"What did you do?!" Haku shouted to Yubaba.  
  
Yubaba made a disgusted face and lifted her hand, glaring at Haku, and zipped Haku mouth shut. Haku glared daggers at Yubaba, trying to open his mouth, but it seemed just impossible  
  
"She'll wake up tomorrow." Yubaba muttered in an annoyed, bored tone, and leaned back., muttering something. The tight ropes around Haku loosened their grip, but before they could fall to his sides Haku ripped them apart. He sat on his knees for a moment, grateful now that he could breath easier, and felt his mouth open and close while taking in breaths. Yubaba must have unzipped his mouth...  
  
He looked at Chihiro, getting up and rushing over, but before he could reach her, Yubaba muttered something and Chihiro began to fade...soon, she was completely gone. Haku tried to move. Why weren't his muscles working? When Chihiro had fully disappeared, Haku felt like he'd been released from being tied up again. His body responded, and he fell forward with such a force that it made a slamming sound that shook the room.  
  
He lay there for a few minutes, thinking, his eyes closed tight, his back to Yubaba. He opened his eyes after a while, only to see...fire?...through his fingers. He looked past his hand, and noticed a fire was lit. He turned in shock, staring at Yubaba, and put his hand in front of his eyes. The faded image of Yubaba was there. He was disappearing...?  
  
Now he knows how Chihiro felt a year and a half ago when she had first come here. He entered a small state of panic, then calmed himself, and looked to Yubaba, who was muttering something.  
  
"What are you doing? Where is Chihiro?" Haku demanded.  
  
Yubaba cackled in pleasure. "Well, Haku, if you've noticed, you're fading." she said, pointing to his body. Haku looked down. He tilted his head so he was looking at his stomach. He could hardly make out the fireplace through it and his eyes widened as he quickly looked back to Yubaba.  
  
"Wha-what's happening? Where is Chihiro?" He demanded a second time, realizing that Yubaba had only answered one of his questions.  
  
"As I said, you are fading. You'll be with Chihiro in a moment, do not worry." she held back another laugh of pleasure, waving her finger and chanting something. Haku felt his stomach get a nausious feeling as he saw himself completely fading, and his mind went black. About a minute later, he was in the boiler room. 'Why am I here?' Haku asked himself, tilting his head to look at where Kamajii normally was. But Kamajii wasn't there.  
  
He heard a voice calling his name, and instinctively muttered, "What..." Haku didn't feel like talking now, as if he was sick and tired. Something was shaking his shoulder. He looked up at the face of Kamajii. "Kama-"  
  
"Haku what happened?" Kamajii said, cutting him off. All of the susuwatari were silent, except for a few random sqeaks, and were silently bouncing up and down to see what was going on. But most of them were looking the other way - at something else.  
  
Haku looked at his hand quickly. He was solid. He let his head drop again tiredly only to wince and sit up slightly when the back of his head hit the cold wood ground. He rubbed his head, looking at Kamajii and feeling slightly better. He told him about how Chihiro signed a contract...because of him, and faded, and then he did. Kamajii pointed over to a corner, where most of the susuwatari were looking.  
  
There was Chihiro, laying on a blanket, unconcious. 


	6. The Next Morning

Haku gasped slightly, jumping up only to stumble. Kamajii told him to rest, but he got up again, rushing to Chihiro. He looked at her, then Kamajii. "Is she all right?" He asked in a serious, yet worried, tone.  
  
Kamajii sighed, going to sit next to Haku. "Yes, she'll be fine tomorrow." Haku seemed so edgy, and just a second ago he was laying on the ground.  
  
"But...but what did Yubaba...do to her?" He asked hesitantly, but said it rather quickly.  
  
"Hmm...I suppose it was just a bolt of electricity...if it was any more powerful it could have killed her." He said slowly and quietly, pausing slightly when seeing the expression on Haku's face. "But she'll be all right." he reassured quickly.  
  
Haku let out a long breath, slumping against the wall. "Okay..." he muttered.  
  
Kamajii grinned. "You just get some rest. We'll figure everything out in the morning." he said, returning to where he usually sat, collecting all of the numerous bath tokens that had fallen.  
  
Haku watched Kamajii for a while, then turned to watch the hyper soot balls, finding himself amused, until he fell into a restless sleep.  
  
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Early the next morning (or night, should I say...), Chihiro felt herself wake up, but not open her eyes. She was too tired. Not to mention sore. She rubbed her eyes, opening them, and waiting patiently for her vision to return normal. She glanced over at the blurry form of Haku and held back a giggle. He was laying only two feet away from her, his clothes a mess, as his hair was. He looked almost...cute!  
  
Chihiro grinned to herself, sitting up, and standing with effort. She had just noticed - she was in the boiler room. The last thing she remembered was only a few seconds of pain; and then darkness, which was more of a relief. She wondered how she got down here, and what happened after she blacked out. She stood there for a moment, looking aorund. Everyone was asleep. Kamajii, Haku, and every last soot ball. She decided to wait, for someone to wake up, or for Rin to come in. Whichever came first.  
  
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What seemed like an hour and a half later, Haku let out some sort of sleepy sigh, stretching slightly. Chihiro had been dozing; not quite asleep, not quite awake. Hearing the sigh she jumped, now wide awake. She stayed still then looked at Haku, relieved that it was only him.  
  
Haku blinked, glancing to his side, then around the room and spotted Chihiro. "How ya doing?" He muttered tiredly.  
  
"What happened last night?" Chihiro said, grinning to hold in her laugh.  
  
"Um..." Haku said, glancing at the ceilling in thought. "Well, Yubaba made both of us fade, and we ended up here." he stated, finding no better way to explain it.  
  
"Oh." Chihiro muttered under her breath, thinking back to the events that happened last night. Oh, yeah, she signed a lifetime contract. She loved working here, but Yubaba was...well, insane...and she wanted revenge. Great. She wasn't worried about her parents. They didn't really like her anyways, mostly ignoring her.  
  
Haku, seeing a thoughtful look on Chihiro's face, decided to remain silent, glancing around. His eyes rested on Kamajii, who was now awake, and looking at Chihiro.  
  
A voice broke Chihiro's thoughts. "Sen, are you all right?"  
  
She looked up quickly. Sen? Had he just called her Sen? Oh, yes, the contract. What had happened to her name, though? Yubaba...crushed it. She looked up at Kamajii. "Yeah..." She said, finding her voice hoase and her throat dry.  
  
"Well, Chihiro, I guess you'll have to work..." Haku said reluctantly.  
  
"Right." Chihiro sighed, standind up. "I'll go find Rin." She said, waving slightly to them and heading for the sliding door. She was about to open it, when it opened before she even touched the handle. 


	7. Working

Chihiro stared at the door, then her hand. What was that? Something grabbed her wrist, and pulled her through the door, and to the elevator. She looked up, only to be relieved that it was Rin.  
  
"Come on, you dope." Rin joked. "Gotta work, ya know. Heard you signed a contract."  
  
Chihiro sighed as they stepped into the elevator. "Yup." She said as they reached the top. They stepped out, and Chihiro looked around. The bathhouse was nearly the same as she remembered it, but all of the workers were rushing around, and the spirits seemed to be ... pushier. And meaner.  
  
Chihiro walked close behind Rin, as a pink/purple spirit...which looked somewhat like an octopus, ran into her. She was knocked back, to the ground. The spirit continued running, muttering things under it's breath with a strange accent about 'smelly humans' and 'that manager.' Lin glared at the spirit, helping Chihiro up.  
  
"Hey, you OK?" Rin murmured, only loud enough for herself and Chihiro to hear, as she looked down at one of the baths. She seemed not to be paying attention as Chihiro said, "Yeah." Rin quickly looked up, pulling her along halls to were she slept when she last came here. No one was in there when they arrived, mostly because of Yubaba...  
  
Rin walked to where they kept extra uniforms, looking through them for a few minutes. Finally, she pulled one out, which was only a little bigger than the one she wore last time she was in the Spirit World.  
  
Chihiro took it, quickly changing and they both went out to work.  
  
But it seemed like there was no work anywhere. Everyone was so busy rushing around, that all the work was taken care of...  
  
Rin leaned against a nearby wall with a bored expression on her face, and Chihiro leaned against the wall, too. "Rin, don't we have to work?" Chihiro asked after a few moments.  
  
Rin rolled her eyes. "Naturally, but look around. Everyone's doing the work. There's nothing to do, even if we wanted to do something." she said, muttering a few things to herself.  
  
Chihiro looked around. Rin wasn't kidding... All of the workers seemed to be doing five times their share of work, and they all had an eager face on. Were they insane?  
  
The rest of the morning went similar to this, except at about noon, a particularly large guest came towards the bridge...  
  
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A/N: Woohoo Oo...thanx for all the reviews, Dark Ice Dragon! Wow, I think I have the quickest updates on the site XD...anyways, next chapter coming either today (most likely) or tomorrow. And I won't say anything about the spirit until next chapter because...I need to think of it XD. Well, See ya!  
  
-Zaekora- 


	8. The Ocean Spirit

A/N: Augh! I already wrote this whole chapter, but it got deleted! So it may not be so great. And I'm in a hurry! Sorry for the horrible and short chapter XD...  
  
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Sen, Rin, and many of the other workers rushed to the entrance, only to clear the way as frogs shooed them. They all stared at the huge turqouise (sp?) spirit, which was the size of a bus. It seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, it's silver eyes tinting gold. It gave off the pleasant smell of ocean.  
  
"An ocean spirit..." Rin muttered from somewhere behind Sen in a somewhat emotionless tone. Sen stared at the wonderous spirit, as it made it's way to the big tub. Haku watched the whole scene, leaning on the rail of the bridge above the big tub.  
  
One frog worker hastily snapped the best soak token they could have onto the clip, and tugged on the rope. A few moments later, a ramp-like plank fell from the wall. Another frog hurried over, giving the rope a good tug as water spilled out onto the ocean spirit.  
  
It sighted with content, seeming more relaxed. It's eyes flashe to Haku and away quickly. Both Sen and Haku noticed that there was now a hint of red in his eyes. Haku thought as he observed the ocean spirit. This was no normal ocean spirit...  
  
Sen, Rin, and many other workers grabbed sponges and began scrubbing the ocean spirit, and instead of cleaning it's layer of sea green scales, they began fading to black. Haku noticed this 'Definately NOT normal.' he thought to himself, leaning forward slightly for a closer look. Every minute, more red seemed to glint in her eyes, and soon enough, he flashed a smirk. Most of it's soft scales were half black now, and it's eyes were fully red.  
  
It waved a great, now clawed, hand, and made a gust of wind, which knocked all of the workers back. Sen hit a wall, only to look up and see the ocean spirit bust into hundreds of small, black creatures. 


	9. Shadow Demons

Sen gasped, straightening herself up. She observed one cackling black creature. It looked somewhat like a cat, but on two feet. And it didn't have fur. It's eyes were blood red, and it had talons, which were very long for it's size. She would say that they were about three feet tall, probably a few inches less.  
  
'Thought so.' Haku thought to himself, jumping on the rail of the bridge that he'd been observing the scene on. He leapt off, stopping in mid-fall and floating. He looked around, quickly making a guess of how many there were. Must be over a hundred...  
  
All of the workers were scattering around, most screaming, some cowering in fear. Sen backed towards the door. One shadow noticed her, lifting itself from the ground in a float, and seemed to vanish. It snickered silently to itself, appearing again behind Sen.  
  
Sen felt it's presence, swirling around only to look up, seeing something that caught her eye. It was Haku. He was shooting black spells at the shadow demons (A/N: Like he did to the little green frog on the bridge...in the movie ^^') that froze them for a few minutes. But he wasn't aware of one particularly large shadow demon floating behind him, looking ready to attack.  
  
By instint, Sen shouted, "Haku, behind y- ahh!" She slapped her hand to her cheek, to find that it was bloody. The shadow demon that was in front of her cackled insanely, blood on it's once clean claws, and swirled up in a circle above her.  
  
Haku heard someone calling his name, then saying, or trying to say, 'behind you.' He quickly spun around, putting his arm up to block a hit from a shadow demon, and took a chance to hit it with a spell.  
  
Sen fell back as the shadow demon swooped right past her. It hovered a while in front of her, about ten feet away, the dove at her. She backed against the wall, and lowered as it got close, grabbing it by the wrist. The shadow demon, taken by surprise, growled at Sen, and wrapped it's own hand around her wrist, digging it's claws into her arm.  
  
Sen let out a small whimper, giving out some sort of growl, and swinging her arm towards the wall. She slammed the shadow demons head, causing it to lose it's grip and fall to the ground. Sen panted, hastily getting up and grabbing her arm. She looked around. Rin was backed into a wall, with a shadow demon babbling nonsence in front of her, a smirk on it's face. 'It must be mimicing Rin.' Sen laughed to herself, then noticed that...Rin was in trouble.  
  
She rushed towards the shadow demon, without thinking. Haku glanced down, seeing Sen running at one of the shadows, and blinked. What was she thinking? He watched, ready to jump down there at any moment. He had to admit that he was surprised when she grabbed it by the wrist and slammed it into a wall.  
  
Sen grinned and looked at the dazed shadow demon, leaning on the wall tiredly next to Rin. "How ya doin'?" Sen said in a mocking tone.  
  
"Nice move," Rin muttered with a smile. Sen nodded slightly and smiled back. Haku, who was floating in the air, smiled to himself, and continued pausing the shadow demons in their tracks.  
  
Rin gave a thumbs up and and rushed off to help the others. Sen turning, and her expression immediatly changed to surprise as she found the same shadow demon she had first slammed into a wall snarling fiercly in front of her, like it was insane. It shot some sort of red spell at her, and when it hit, Sen felt herself fall abckwards with force. She backed against the wall, ready for nearly anything he would do.  
  
But she wasn't expecting what he actually did do. He jumped forward at her, stopped, and reached his hand out quickly. Sen felt cold hands wrap around her neck, squeezing it until she couldn't breath. She bit her lower lip and shut her eyes tight, kicking the shadow demon in the leg. But the shadow didn't even flinch. He smirked, only tightening his grip on her neck. She choked out a cough, her vision forming black spots.  
  
Haku glanced in Sen's direction, then found himself staring. He immediatly dropped to the ground, running over and shoving the shadow demon. "Chihiro! Chihiro, are you OK?"  
  
'Chihiro?' Sen thought in puzzlement, hearing Haku's voice, but it sounded like an echo. 'Oh...yea that's my name...' she slapped herself mentally for almost fogetting. She heard her name again. She loved the sound of Haku's voice. As much as she wanted to say something, she couldn't. She felt herself slip into unconciousness.  
  
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A/N: How positively EVIL of me to torture you all so...XD! Mwahahahaha!!! Anyways, done writing for tonight. People like me gotta sleep too X.x...nighty! I'll have the next chappie soon! -wavewave- -falls asleep-  
  
Buena Sera! (Good Evening. Italian. I have a habit. Silenzo!)  
  
-Zaekora- -snooooore- 


	10. Shades of Red

After a few minutes, and after Sen began to breath normally again, she woke up. She rubbed the back of her head, blinking many times to get her vision clear. She looked at the scene. The room was almost empty, save for a few cowering workers, and shadow demons where mainly in one spot. In front of Haku.  
  
Haku was standing in front of Sen, trying to fight off the shadow demons with a series of spells. They began to surround the both of them. Three jumped onto the top of the wall (which didn't exactly connect to the cieling...) above them, snickering and glancing around. Sen glanced up, and, using the wall for support, stood. As one leapt for Haku's back, Sen used her move on it. She grabbed it's wrist while it was jumping, swinging it around with a "Yah!", and slamming it into the others on the wall. They lost balance, tumbling down behind her.  
  
Sen panted slightly looking forward. Haku was now next to her. There were just to many of the shadow demons. Her feet left the ground. 'Huh?' she thought wearily, looking down. Her feet were inches off of the ground. Haku had her, by the hand, and they floated up. Sen noticed that the shadow demons were not floating after them, but were storming around below them cursing angrily.  
  
"Only powerful ones can float," came Haku's voice from beside her. "By the way, where did you get that move?" He said with a grin.  
  
"Oh...uhh...I just made it up about ten minutes ago." Sen said blankly, and then grinned in return. They floated to the rail of the bridge above the big tub, sitting on it as Yubaba stormed out of the elevator, a menacing look on her face.  
  
'Oh no.' thought Sen as she watched Yubaba. Sen knew that Yubaba would do anything to keep business running, as all she cared about was being rich and powerful. But Sen wasn't expecting this...  
  
Yubaba rushed down to the lower level, and the shadow demons gathered around her, snarling. Yubaba only put on the most evil smirk she had, lifting her hands above her head and balling them into fists. She brought her fists down, but stopped right above the ground, muttering something. Red sparks formed around her hands, and what looked like some sort of shock wave erupted from around the sparks, causing all of the shadow spirits to fall back. So did Sen and Haku.  
  
Haku caught his balance easily on the rail. Sen did too, but she was in a position that if someone pushed her even a little, she could fall. Sen stared at Yubaba as she slammed the ground with her fist, this time causing the whole bathhouse to rumble slightly, and suddenly, everything turned a shade of red.  
  
Sen gasped as pain ran through her body, to the very bone. She didn't have to close her eyes to see darkness. It was as if someone turned out every single light in the entire area. Pain still streaked through her body, and she felt herself...falling.  
  
Then, she felt a hand grab hers. She opened her eyes, looked at the shadow demons, which were laying in pain. Yubaba seemed to be the only one who was unaffected by this spell. Sen took in sharp gasps of breath, the pain beginning to lightly fade. She looked up. Indeed, she did fall, but Haku had grabbed her. Sen grabbed the rail, still panting loudly, and pulled herself up.  
  
She laid on the bridge, her eyes closed. She could feel cold sweat dripping from her forehead, and noticed that she was shaking. She sat up, leaning against the rail, pulling herself up to a sitting position. She looked at Haku, who was not shaking, not panting, but she knew that he wanted to. She sighed slightly as the pain settled to a dull throb.  
  
"What...was that?" She asked softly to Haku.  
  
"One of Yubaba's spells." He said as he looked over the railing. Yubaba was cackling, as the shadow demons crawled towards the entrance. "You OK?" He said, turning his attention back to Sen.  
  
Sen nodded. "Yea..." She said. She can't believe she had fallen off of the rail. Boy she hadn't changed a bit; still clumsy.  
  
Rin walked hastily up, also panted slightly, along with Sen.  
  
"Sen, are you All right?" Rin asked, in a concerned tone.  
  
"Yes." she stated in a louder tone. Rin nodded slightly, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her back to the girls rooms. Sen only had time to give Haku a quick wave before she was dragged around the corner.  
  
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For the rest of the day, they both slept...  
  
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A/N: Okkkk...O____O Come on review, people! XD -thinks of how to make the story end- Umm...email me if you want to...it's virtualcanine@hotmail.com. Thanx for readng, and expect the next chapter either today or tomorrow! ^^'  
  
-Zaekora- 


	11. The Fox

There were almost no customers the next day. All of them had heard of what had happened in the bathhouse the previous day. Yubaba was furious, and screamed at all of the workers that were not too badly injured to begin fixing the damage that the shadow demons left.  
  
There was some sort of goo, or sludge, trailed across the floor, as if left by the shadow demons. Sen and a few other workers were stuck scrubbing that up.  
  
"I wonder when the customers will start coming in..." Sen said to Rin, who was next to her.  
  
"Probably not for a while, with all of this mess." Rin shot a glance up at some blood on the wall, shaking her head. After about an hour, Sen and the others had finally finished scrubbing this room, and they all laid on their backs to rest.  
  
Sen ran her hand along the wooden floor. Not a speck of dust. She grinned to herself, sighing slightly. After a couple of minutes, Rin got up, offering Sen an hand. "C'mon, we have other things to clean..." Rin groaned. Sen did the same, grabbing her hand and pulling herself up.  
  
As they turned the corner, they were right near the entrance. Haku was leaning against a wall, obviously standing guard, because Yubaba told him to. She just wanted to be sure that no other troublesome spirits came in. Sen was about to say hello when something a reddish color whizzed past her feet.  
  
Rin, Haku, and Sen paused and stared at it. Then another black figure zoomed past. The red creature circled Sen's feet in a dash, and the black creature smirked. Sen immeditly realized it as a shadow demon. He must have chased the poor red thing here. As the red creature slowed down, it's appearance showed. It looked somewhat like a cat, but mostly like a kit fox.  
  
It's pelt was a dark red, it's ears and tail black, and it's eyes were bright yellow. Sen snatched it up as the shadow demon closed in on it, holding it like a cat.The shadow demon, like it had just noticed the humans, backed up and then darted out.  
  
Sen blinked, then looked down at the little fox-like creature in her arms. So did everybody else.It glanced up at her, seeming to relax a bit.  
  
There was quite a long silence, no one knowing what to say about the random events. Rin broke the silence.  
  
"Um..." Everyone looked at her, obviously they had all been waiting for someone to talk. Even the fox creature looked.  
  
Sen glanced at the fox and grinned. "D'ya think Yubaba would let me keep him?"  
  
"Umm...I guess she wouldn't mind..." Haku said, looking at the fox creature.  
  
"Whatcha gonna call it, Sen?" Rin questioned, looking at the fox and grinning. "It's kinda cute." She said and smiled.  
  
"My name is Taro and don't call me 'cute.'" came an annoyed voice, and everyone looked at the fox.  
  
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Mmmmk...that done...I know, random turn of events again, but it ties in with the story...you shall see X.x...  
  
-Zaekora- 


	12. He's a Tsudo!

There was silence. Until finally, Sen muttered, "W-What?"  
  
The fox looked around and blinked. "What are you all looking at? My name's Taro..." He looke oddly around, with an expression that said 'Are you all crazy?'  
  
Rin only stuttered, Sen looked confused, and Haku looked surprised. "Not many Tsudos around here..." Haku muttered. Sen looked up.  
  
Taro only grunted, flicking his tail slightly. "Tsudos?" Sen looked at Haku.  
  
"Yea, they look like foxes, and some of them are born with the ability to talk." Haku explained, and Taro put on a proud expression.  
  
"So what is this place?" Taro said, looking around, still sitting in Sen's arms. He sounded slightly like the little green frog, as Sen noticed.  
  
"It's a bathhouse, for the spirits. You can stay with me if you want to..." Sen said, looking at Taro.  
  
"Hmm...I guess that wouldn't be too bad, huh..." Taro mused. "As long as no shadow demons come here..."  
  
Sen blinked. "Well..." she paused for a moment. "There won't be any more." She finished.  
  
"What do ya mean?" Taro asked, looking at her oddly.  
  
Sen explained yesterday's events. Taro grinned. "It's OK. I like some action. And that sounds like a nice move you have there." They all laughed.  
  
But their laughter was broken by a little skreik. "What is that rat?! Get it out, now!" It was Yubaba, she was staring and pointing at Taro.  
  
Sen held Taro tighter. "He's a Tsudo, and he's staying with me!" Everyone, especially Haku, was surprised at her tone and choice of words. Taro glared at Yubaba, knowing about her from what Sen had told him.  
  
Yubaba, too, looked surprised, and sneered. "I said get that RAT out." She growled, her tone menacing and threataning. "Or else." She added angrily.  
  
"Or else what?" Sen growled, her tone as angry as Yubaba. Haku held back a wince. What was she doing? "He's a TSUDO!" she forcfully, standing at her tallest. "And he is staying right here." Taro smirked slightly.  
  
Yubaba shook with anger, looking as if she was about to blow. "AUGH!" She shreiked, storming off and muttering something about 'She'll pay...' and 'Filthy rat...'.  
  
There were many moments of silence, then Taro smiled. "Thanks, Sen." He said.  
  
Sen looked at him and smiled. "No problem. You can stay with me."  
  
Haku was simply astonished, and he even showed it. "Why did you do that?" He asked after a while.  
  
"What do you mean?" Sen looked up at him. "Because I want Taro to stay. And even if I'm under a lifetime contract, I'm not going to be bossed around my whole life." She said the last sentance with a small hint of anger, turning and walking off towards the girls dorm, Taro in her arms.  
  
Rin stood in silence, staring after Sen. Haku did too. He felt surprised, confused, guilty...He shook his head slightly. He knew it was basiclly his fault that she had a lifetime contract with Yubaba, and he couldn't help but feel sorry. He sighed. She sounded angry...was she mad at him? He looked around nervously.  
  
Rin noticed. "I'll go talk to her." she said, beginning to walk to the girls dorm.  
  
"Rin, thanks." Haku muttered, leaning against the wall again.  
  
Rin grinned, waved, and walked off...  
  
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Wh00t Oo;...wow...expect about 30 chapters to this story. XD. I don't want it to end and I can't think of how it will...-brainstorms- Ah well...I'm going to write the next chapter after this, so wow! Three chapters in one day! But that's just me XD. Anyways, see ya!  
  
-Zaekora- 


	13. Conversation

Sen walked into the girls dorm, flopping down on her futon and gazing out the window at the oncoming storm ((A/N: It's storming out right now, in real life, for me ^^'...the sky is REALLY grey!)) and sighed. Taro jumped out of her arms, sitting next to her and glancing up. "Sen, what's the matter?" He asked.  
  
"I dunno..." Sen sighed, watching the distant strikes of lightning.  
  
Taro thought. She had said 'lifetime contract.' "Sen...don't worry...you'll get out of here soon."  
  
Sen glanced down, smiling. "Thanks, Taro." She said.  
  
"By the way, how long have you been here?"  
  
"No more than a few days, Taro." She paused momentarily. "But I've been here before."  
  
Taro grinned. Nice chance for a conversation.' He thought to himself. "Really? Tell me about it." He said, saying his tail gently.  
  
"Well...I remember it, but not much. Oh well." she shrugged, then dove into the story. After a while, Taro and Sen became very good friends. A knock on the door went unnocticed by them.  
  
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Rin blinked. She could hear them in there, but they must not have heard her. She slid the door open a little, and grinned. Sen and Taro were laying on their stomachs, watching the storm. They seemed so happy. She slid the door shut, leaving them alone.  
  
"How is she?" A voice came from behind Rin. Rin turned slightly, to see Haku leaning against a wall (He does that a lot, doesn't he?).  
  
"She's having fun." Rin stated flatly.  
  
"Huh?" Haku looked at Rin. "'Having fun'?"  
  
"With Taro." Rin said, grinning.  
  
"Oh." Haku muttered. "I wonder where he came from." Haku mused. 'It couldn't have been around here, Tsudo's don't live here. Especially not red ones...' He grinned to himself, hearing the two speaking in the room. He didn't want to listen, but couldn't help it.  
  
He didn't catch much of the conversation, because Sen lowered her voice slightly. He caught some words like '...And they turned into pigs. So anyways, I...' and '...Was bike-riding, when a bird swooped in front of me, and I fell...'  
  
"Eavsdropping?" Rin's voice said from behind him.  
  
"No, just standing here." Haku said innocently.  
  
"Sure." Rin muttered, grabbing Haku's arm and dragging him away. "Leave 'em alone." she said, grinning to herself.  
  
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((A/N: -Hears something whispering her name in real life- I think I'm insane XDD))  
  
Sen glanced behind her, at the door. Voices outside. She heard something about 'eavsdropping.' She paused, then turned to Taro, and whispered, "Wait here..."  
  
She got up silently, slowly sliding open the door. No one. She heard distant talking, though. She shrugged, closing the door again. She took a seat next to Taro again, smiling.  
  
"Thanks, Taro. I havn't felt this happy in days." She hugged him slightly. Taro grinned. "Me neither."  
  
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No, there ish no cliffie here. But fear not, they approach. :3. Anyways, I think I may write one more chappie tonight. MAYBE.  
  
-Zaekora- 


	14. Trouble at the Bridge

Rin walked in a few hours later, to find Sen and Taro sleeping. Taro was nuzzled up between Chihiro's arms, curled up in a ball. Both were deep asleep, even with the very large storm outside. Rin smiled, laying down in her cot, and falling asleep soon.  
  
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Haku was sitting on the bridge to the bathhouse, watching the raging storm. He found relazation and peace in a storm. True, he was dreanched from the rainstorm, and knew it would be trouble when he decided to go back into the bathhouse, but right now, he didn't care.  
  
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Yubaba smirked, looking out of her window. Ture, she had planned to get revenge on Sen. And as much as she wanted to torture Sen with work, she also wanted to torture her another way...  
  
She hopped onto the balcony outside her window. She had used a spell to transport herself. Ture, that was one of the most strongest magics ever, and she had almost mastered it. Although she could only travel about ten feet. She smirked, transforming into her bird form, and perching herself on the edge of the balcony, thinking over her plan... She smirked, soaring out towards the bridge to th bathhouse.  
  
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Haku sighed in content, then paused, opening his eyes. Nothing. But he heard something; he knew it. Lightning flashed quickly, and in a 'flash' (Flash! Get it? ......No? Never mind. -.-'), he was being held up by a huge black talon. He was being held by the back of his shirt (or whatever he wears), near the back of his neck, which was nearly choking him. He glanced back, as lightning flashed again. Yubaba?  
  
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Something awoke Sen. She didn't know if it was the large boom of thunder, or something deep within her. She looked out at the storm, glancing to the bridge. She could hardly see, it was far away, and it was pouring rain out. She gasped. Haku? And something was holding him. She knew he was in trouble. Without hesitation, she dashed out of the room. Taro blinked, just waking, and looked after her.  
  
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Ugh, it's sooo short, I know. But this is the PERFECT cliffie! :D. Anyways, I'm writing the next chapter....-waits a few minutes- NOW. -runs off quickly-  
  
-Zaekora- 


	15. Storming

A few minutes later, Sen appeared at the entrance to the bathhouse, panting loudly. She squinted to see ahead of her, at the two forms. That was Haku all right, and...a big black bird. She gasped. That was the bird that had knocked her off of her bike, back in the human world!  
  
She stared for a moment, getting a clearer view. She was right; Haku was in trouble. The bird had him by the shirt. She began running across the bridge, glancing back and seeing a small red form running after her. She ignored it, still running towards Haku. Yubaba noticed this, and smirked. Haku looked at Sen and gasped, shaking his head quickly.  
  
But that didn't stop Sen. Ran dashed at them both, jumping up and grabbing onto the birds leg. Her feet were just barely above the ground, as were Haku's. She tugged downward violently, causing Yubaba, herself, and Haku, to fall onto the bridge. By this time, Taro was beside Sen.  
  
As they hit the bridge, it creaked loudly. Haku paused, as did Yubaba. Sen and Taro did also. But just when Yubaba made a move, Sen jumped up.  
  
"Sen, don't-" Haku shouted over the storm, but it was too late. (A/N: Stupid Sen! XD) The wood under her feet creaked again, and immediatly snapped off. Sen gasped, falling through the bridge, and felt her hand grab something. It was the hole she'd fallen through. The wood under Taro feel through also, but he grabbed onto Chihiro's leg (Well, her pants, actually...), and held on tight with his claws. Sen felt her hands slipping, and swung her other hand up to grip the wood.  
  
"Taro!" She gasped. "Hang on!" Haku scrambled up, rushing over to her. But Yubaba flashed in front of him. He shook with anger, ramming into Yubaba and knocking her into the wood. He immediatly looked at Sen, crawling quickly over and grabbing her wrist, trying to pull her up. She grabbed his wrists too, putting her feet on the bottom of the bridge to give herself a boost. The sudden movement caused Taro to slip, so that he was hardly hanging onto her clothes.  
  
"S-Sen!" He yipped, trying to scramble up onto her back. She winced slightly, him not realizing it. She looked up at Haku, then at Yubaba, who was stirring. She let go with on hand, grabbing Taro and hoisting him up onto the bridge. Yubaba smirked. 'Perfect' she thought. She flew forward, ramming into Haku.  
  
Both Sen and Haku gasped the word "Woah!" as they fell downwards towards the shallow water. She heard a roaring, thinking that Haku was just turning to his dragon form. She looked up quickly. Taro, as she could faintly see, was barking something madly and standing on the railing. Haku was reaching for her, but it was too late.  
  
She hit the ground under the shallow water with a painful thud. 


	16. Painful Recovery

After a few hours of mixing herbs and some other potions, Kamajii grinned at his work, walking over to Chihiro with a bowl which looked like mushy red leaves. "Here you go, Sen." He said, his expression changing to a very, very faint sight of nervousness. "It will hurt..." He said.  
  
She took the bowl, looking at him awkwardly. She took a bite. To her, it didn't taste just as bad as she expected. Although it was extremely bitter, and seemed to burn her tongue. She glanced to her side and noticed that she was holding Haku's hand, and smiled to herself slightly. She ate the rest of the medicine. No pain yet.  
  
After a while, she felt a tingling senstation in her leg. It lasted like that for a while, until it was a small thudding pain. Then, without warning, her leg seemed to explode in pain. She gasped and grabbed Haku's hand tightly - not realizing it, of course -. Tears welled up in her eyes as she closed them twice. The pain rose slightly only once, but then started dying down after about a half hour. She gasped in breaths, falling back on her pillow after the pain had gone. She soon fell into a sleep.  
  
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. "It takes a lot outta you..." Kamajii observed quietly.  
  
Haku looked at Sen. "Well...I guess I'd better go. I'm going to go visit Rin, she's probably worried sick." he said in an annoyed tone. "I'll be back to visit her soon." He said, his tone turning back to the way it's always been.  
  
Kamajii nodded, putting a blanket on Sen. "OK." A little after Haku walked out, Kamajii turned to Taro. "You can stay here if you'd like. I've got to get back to work..." He said, glancing at the numerous bath tokens that had fallen down near where he usually sat. "...but comfort her when she wakes up. She'll feel only a little pain." He grinned slightly as Taro nodded quickly, and returned to his work.  
  
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Sen woke up quickly, due to a dream. A dream that she remembered clearly, but did not want to recall at the moment.... ((NOTE TO YOU ALL: Remember this part about the dream O.o;...just a hint! -innocent look-)) She grasped her leg, as it was aching a dull pain, but it seemed large to her. She blinked, noticing that there were no broken bones, but...fur?  
  
She looked down, and sighed in relief. Good. No furry feet. Just Taro. They grinned at eachother. "How ya doin'?" He asked.  
  
"Fine." she said, scratching him behind the ear slightly. Taro smiled, flicking his tail happily. They both looked towards the sliding door as it slid open, and two figures crawled in quickly...  
  
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Not much of a cliffie, but I think I'm done writing tonight. Damn internet connection is sorta down so....phooey! -angery glare at internet host- Well, off to the good ol' PS2, which never fails XD -wavums-  
  
-Zaekora- 


	17. The Dream

To Sen's relief, it was Haku and Rin. Rin looked a little pale, and swept Sen into a hug, mumbling things about being worried and working... (O.o). Haku grinned, leaning against the wall.  
  
Rin glanced back at the sliding door, hearing the elevator. It was moving. she blinked. Taru heard it also, with his large ears and amazing sence of hearing. He padded silently towards the door, slipping it open with a paw. The sound of the elevator stopped, and was replaced with a ding. When footsteps sounded, Taru gasped, quickly backing into the room again. Everyone looked anxiously at him.  
  
"Yu-Yubaba!" He managed to bark out, as the door slid open. Yubaba reached in and grabbed the Tsudo, tossing him backwards against the wall. "Stupid rat..." she muttered. Taru yelped slightly, rubbing his head. Sen gasped, getting up and running towards the sliding door, to help Taru, but Yubaba grabbed her wrist. "And YOU-" She began, when Sen kicked her in the leg. Everyone was standing, looking as if they were about to leap on Yubaba.  
  
Yubaba shrieked in pain, letting go of Sen, who ran to grab Taru. But something grabbed him first. Yubaba. She held the Tsudo up by the scruff, taking her hand away. He remained in the air, floating. She began working up a spell, and just as she was on the last word of it, Sen reached her arm out in front of Taru to grab him.  
  
Yubaba, not noticing, shot the spell at full power towards Taru. Instead, it hit Sen's arm, with such a force that it threw her back against a wall, and Taru dropped out of his floating position. Luckily, Haku dashed past him and Taru landed on his shoulder.  
  
Sen felt a stinging in her arm, and a swimming sensation in her head. She pulled herself halfway up, putting her hand on the wall for support. Haku rushed to her, holding her arm to pull her up. He noticed that she winced slightly, and felt something warm on his hand. He removed his hand, to find blood on it. He looked back at Sen's arm to find a gash. He gasped slightly, grabbing her hand and running for the elevator.  
  
Rin grabbed Taru and rushed after them. Yubaba shot a spell in front of Haku, causing him to fall backwards. He caught himself on his hands, panting slightly. He backed up, in front of Sen, as Yubaba held up her palms again. Haku growled, and it soon changed to a deep-throated snarl as Haku changed to his dragon form. In a rush of silver scales, Haku swept at Yubaba, snapping at her angrily.  
  
Sen gasped, her eyes widening. The flash of scales, Haku snapping at Yubaba...it was so familiar...Then Sen realized it. The Dream! The one she had earlier. She remembered now. In the dream, Haku swished past and they jumped on. They flew to Zeniba's house...but then something terrible happened...she couldn't quite remember, she could feel herself become dizzy.  
  
Something swooped past her, and she was immediatly woken up. Almost by instinct, she leapt on. She looked at the elevator. Rin got on, with Taru, but Taru growled, leaping out of Rin's arms and grabbing Haku's tail before he took off. They were in the air in seconds.  
  
Sen pulled Taru up next to her, thinking something over. It took a while to realize something; they were headed to Zeniba's house, in swamp bottom! She gasped, tugging at Haku's mane.  
  
"Haku.." she said in a small voice. Haku looked at her as if to say 'Just rest.'  
  
She shook her head. "It's important!" She said in a louder tone, and Taru looked up at her. Haku looked back, to say that he was listening. "I had a dream a night ago." she began. "It was exactly similar to what had just happened. And in the dream, we went to Swamp Bottom, to Zeniba's house, and something terrible happened. It's a blur, I don't remember what it was. But I remember that it WAS terrible..." she said, trailing off into thought. They were straight above swamp bottom now.  
  
Haku landed safely on the ground, turning back to human. He knew about these dreams. They were somewhat rare, but most of the times, not true.  
  
"Haku!" Sen said loudly, tugging at his sleeve nervously. Taru leapt onto her shoulder.  
  
Haku turned slightly. "It's OK, nothing going happ-" He looked bhind Sen, and blinked, looking simply astonished. Sen looked awkwardly at him, turning around, also. She gasped, backing up next to him.  
  
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BWAHAHAHA! -Evil glare- Well, internet is down, that's why it's taking a while -bored snore- Well, so long! ^^'  
  
-Zaekora- 


	18. The Black Dragon

A large ebony dragon stood before them, it's head bowed, it's maw open in a menacing snarl. It looked nearly identical to Haku in his dragon form. Except it was bigger than he was. It had a few gold markings on it's haunches, and one circlular one on it's forehead. The dragon looked strangely familiar...  
  
It roared loudly, and shot forward like an angry snake, then quickly recoiled, hissing. Sen and Haku fell backwards. Taru lowered himself slightly. The black dragon darted forward, twisting slightly, giving him the effect of a slithering snake. It circled them, her eyes darkening. As it flashed in front of them, a midnight blue streak down it's back flashed, as well as it's eyes.  
  
Sen stared at the black dragon, then looked at her side. Where was Haku? She looked around. In the sky, was a silver streak. It was quickly growing closer. And closer...  
  
Sen grabbed Taru quickly, and as Haku swept past her, she grabbed his mane and was tugged along. She pushed Taru up between his horns, and Taru grabbed onto one. Sen grabbed the other horn, quickly looking behind her.  
  
The black dragon was sharp on their tail. The gap between them couldn't have been more than two feet. As the black dragon sped up, Sen did something that she didn't think would hae such a big effect. She grabbed the shining violet hair band that Zeniba, Kaonashi, Boh, and Yu-Bird had maed for her, and shot it like a rubber band at the black dragon's golden eye.  
  
It had him stright on. He paused in mid-air. It was slightly above Haku, and fell past him, brushing against him slightly. But Sen was just hanging off Haku, not gripping his horn anymore. She didn't fall, but was dragged along downwards, falling towards an icy lake below them.  
  
"Sen!" She heard two voices call. Her vision shot up, to see a struggling Taru in Haku's grasp (in his human form - floating). Sen could only see Haku begin to dart down towards her, when the black dragon yanked slightly. He had his claws around her arm, and they were very close to the icy covering of the lake.  
  
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Haku watched almost helplessly as the black dragon sped past him, nearer to the ice. For some reason, he couldn't transform into a dragon. His body wouldn't let him. 'Why now?!' he screamed at himself.  
  
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Sen closed her eyes as she and the black dragon broke stright through the ice. She heard her named being called again, yet was surprised at how thin the ice had been. She was now surrounded by pitch black, icy cold water. It felt like she was sitting in a lake of ice cubes. She opened blinked, and tried to scream under the water, but all that came out was bubbles.  
  
A pair golden eyes stared at her, shimmering with pleasure.  
  
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-Writes next chapter NOW- XD  
  
-Zaekora- 


	19. Under the Ice

Haku and Taru hovered a few feet above the ice, staring in shock at the rather large hole caused by Sen and the black dragon. Taru whimpered slightly, struggling his way out of Haku's grasp and landed on the ice. So did Haku. The thin ice cracked beneath their feet, and they silently tip- toed across the ice to the hole.  
  
Both knelt down, trying their hardest to see in the pitch darkened waters. "Sen..." Taru whispered. He dipped his paw in, and yelped slightly at the freezing temperature of the water. Taru looked at the water for a few more moments, then gasped quickly. "Look, Haku, look!" He said, staring hard at the water.  
  
Haku looked down into the water. He saw a pair of glowing eyes, and a long snake-like form. It was circling a smaller form. Sen! Without hesitation, Haku dove into the water. He didn't have to breath under the water; he was a river spirit. but he paused at the amazingly cold temperature of the water. He shivered it off, and began to swim down, towards the scene.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Sen franticly swam backwards, her eyes wide with fear as the dragon wrapped his tail around her. She shivered slightly, and the dragon thightened his grasp. Something above her caught her eye. Something was swimming towards them...what was it? Behind the thing, she saw the hole that she had burst through was the dragon. Was that...Taru?  
  
As the thing got closer, she could tell it was Haku. She struggled against the hold she was in, but the dragon only squeezed her harder. She now couldn't breath even if there was air. She felt herself slipping into unconciousness as she felt a tugging at her shoudler...then a rumble...  
  
............................  
  
She was snapped awake by a sharp pain in her arm. She looked over, seeing the gash she had gotten due to Yubaba's spell. Why did it hurt now? She rubbed the back of her head, sitting up. Taru was standing at her feet, growling, and Haku was in front of them both, facing the black dragon. He was talking to it. No...he was casting a spell...  
  
He shot a multi-colored flash at the black dragon, and it sunk to the floor. It got smaller. And smaller. And smaller, until it was a human. Sen lifted her head to see, and gasped slightly. Yubaba?! 


	20. The Contract

Sen gasped slightly. Yubaba? A dragon? No...it's not possible... Sen just stared at Yubaba, who got up, looking angry at them; mostly Haku. For a few moments, Sen forgot how freezing she was and how much she was shivering.  
  
They all stayed in silence for many moments after, until Haku spoke up. "How...how are you a dragon?" he asked, his voice nearly a whisper.  
  
Yubaba crossed her arms and huffed. "I've been practicing how to become one. It wasn't TOO hard." she snorted slightly, her gaze turning from Haku, to Taro (-she narrowed her gaze in disgust upon seeing Taro-), then to Sen. 'Why can't she just die?' Yubaba joked to herself. 'I've been fooling around with them too much. I should just kill them all. It wouldn't be just as much fun, but it would be easier and faster...' she mused to herself, smirking slightly.  
  
Sen stared in disbelief. 'Now what?' she thought, looking around. They in the middle of a huge lake with a cover of very thin ice, with a maniac who wanted them dead more than anything, and now, Haku somehow couldn't turn into a dragon.  
  
"I see you can't transform." Yubaba said with a small chuckle of pleasure.  
  
"What did you do?" Both Sen and Haku said darkly, and both glanced at eachother.  
  
Yubaba held back a snicker. "What do you think? A spell." She said, looking around as if in boredom. Sen wondered when it would wear off. She dreaded to think that it wouldn't. She thought hard for something that she could...maybe blackmail...Yubaba with. She bit her lower lip, then felt something in her hands.  
  
She looked down. A rolled up piece of paper. Where did that come from? She looked around. No one had given it to her... She read the words and gasped slightly. It was her contract! Perfect... She quickly hid it behind her back and looked at Yubaba.  
  
"When can he be a dragon again?" She asked, looking straight at Yubaba.  
  
"Once I reverse the spell, and I don't think I want to do that." She said in a mocking tone.  
  
"Yes, you will." Sen said, a smile forming. Haku looked back at her. What was she going to do now?  
  
Yubaba snorted with laughter. "Oh yea, sure I will." She said sarcasticly, laughing some more.  
  
Sen only stood still, smiling, and walked calmly forward until she was standing right in front of Yubaba, who was still laughing. Haku noticed something in her hands, and tilted his head slightly. 'What's that?' He thought.  
  
Taro walked to stand beside Sen. Sen looked at Yubaba, holding up her contract right in Yubaba's face. "Then do it." she said forcefully.  
  
Yubaba's laughter quickly ceased as she stared at Sen's contract and a bewildered, slightly frightened look came over her. "No." Yubaba muttered.  
  
Sen blinked. "Then I'm going to tear it up." She said calmly.  
  
"No wait!" Yubaba shouted without thinking, and her voice echoed across the lake, giving it an eerie effect. Sen paused, staring at Yubaba. Yubaba thought. Wait a minute...she didn't care! Why would she?! She was going to kill Sen anyways. Even if she told Sen she didn't care, the girl wouldn't have the guts to rip her contract up in her face. No one ever did.  
  
After a few moments, Yubaba smiled. "Go ahead, then." she said calmly.  
  
"Last chance." Sen muttered so only Yubaba could hear. Yubaba only shook her head.  
  
But inside, Yubaba was sweating. She gulped slightly. Was Sen really going to do it? Yubaba really did care, because if Sen ripped up the contract, she could pass to the human world freely again...  
  
Sen grinned. "But I can leave if I do this. Let him be a dragon again and I'll hand you the contract." Sen said patiently, which almost no emotion but calmness in her voice.  
  
Haku stared in bewilderment. Tons of questions ran through her mind. 'Where did she get that? Why is she doing this? Is she actually doing it...for me?'  
  
Yubaba paused, a frightened look on her face. She couldn't hide it. Sen's words were true. But she grinned. Whether or not Sen ripped up the contract, Yubaba would merely kill her right here and now. Her grin grew to a smirk.  
  
Sen thought quickly. She had to think of SOMETHING to help Haku. Wait a minute...how she got the contract...she just wished for something to get her out of the situation. 'I wish I had something to blackmail Yubaba with...' she thought to herself.  
  
She felt something else in her hand, and looked down, grinning. 


	21. Torture

She held up the object. "Hmm...gold..." She said in a voice that sounded like she didn't care. It was an exceptionally large peice of gold, about as big as a quarter. It had to be worth an exceptionally large amount of money...  
  
Yubaba stared, taking an attempt to speak, but it only came out as came out as senseless stutters. Haku blinked. 'Where is she getting this?!'  
  
"Well?" Sen said in impatient voice. "Reverse the spell on him and I'll give you the lousy piece of gold." She said and glared at Yubaba.  
  
Yubaba, who knew Haku could do anything to her as a dragon, boldly shook her head. She had enough jewels and gold already. "No." she said in a slightly wavering voice.  
  
Frusturated (sp?), Sen would do almost anything to get Yubaba to change her mind. "FINE, you can have my contract AND the gold if you reverse it!" She blurted out loudly, causing everyone but herself to gasp.  
  
Yubaba was about to scream 'Fine!!!' in delight, when Sen held up her hand. "Wait!" she almost shouted. Sen closed her eyes. She wished for one thing, and one thing only. Another peice of paper appeared in her hand, and she held it up to Yubaba. "Rip it up." She comanded.  
  
Yubaba looked bewildered. "H-Haku's Contract?" She stuttered. Haku paused. It was as if he was frozen to the spot. 'She has to be kidding...' he thought to himself. 'She's giving up her freedom for mine?'  
  
Sen only nodded. Yubaba thought. It was indeed worth it, she considered immediatly. Toying with Sen until she DIED would be priceless. Yubaba smirked, muttering something. "There, spell's reversed." Haku changed into a dragon, then back to a human. Yubaba wasn't lying.  
  
Sen tossed Yubaba her contract and the gold, tearing Haku's contract in half.  
  
Haku watched as Sen ripped apart his contract. It was as if it was in slow motion. It was as if he was being torn apart instead of the contract. Half of him felt overwhelming joy. He was free! But half of him felt overwhelming sadness and guilt.  
  
Yubaba snickered with glee. She stuffed the gold and Sen's lifetime contract in her pocket protectivly. She began thinking of how she would torture Sen already.  
  
Taro watched in shock, pressing himself against Sen's leg nervously. Had she just done that?  
  
Yubaba, in all opf her glee, was again, disgusted with the Tsudo. "Get rid of it, for god sakes!" She growled at Sen, who just stood there, her arms crossed.  
  
"No." she said simply.  
  
"NOW, or you'll pay."  
  
"NO." Sen said again, this time louder.  
  
Yubaba, shaking with rage, put her palms together, trying to remember the pain spell. She smirked, remembering it, and began to chant something.  
  
Haku listened to Yubaba. Then he realized what the spell was. He held his hand out, and a black bubble formed around Yubaba, freezing her. (Like the one Haku used on the little green frog in the movie...) Sen glanced back at Haku, and was staring into the gren eyes of a dragon. He tilted his head, as if telling her to get onto her back quickly, because the spell would only last for about a minute. She swiped up Taro, grabbing Haku's horn and swinging herself onto his back. They were about to take off when the bubble around Yubaba broke, and what looked like a sphere hovered before her hands. The pain spell was building up, which would give it a larger effect than it was normally supposed to.  
  
Yubaba grinned evilly. If she had been frozen in that bubble for twenty seconds longer, she would have been able to work up a spell which could have killed Sen. But right now, it wouldn't. She released it anyway. The sphere seemed to shatter, releasing a blood red light that flashed around the lake, surrounded it's target (Sen), and disappeared.  
  
Not even half a second after it disappeared, Sen screamed in pain, clutching her head. She blindly fell backwards off of Haku, causing the ice to crack, not to give way, below her.  
  
It was as if all the pain that was ever inflicted upon her came back to her in one blow. She couldn't hear herself screaming, the shouting around her. Just the pain, which immediatly found it's way through her whole body.  
  
Yubaba, wanting to shut the screams of Sen up, flicked her finger.  
  
All of the pain was gone. She was left with a dull headache and a throbbing pain throughout her body. There were tears in her eyes, and she was shaking more than she ever had. Haku had just changed back into a human, and along with Taro, was rushing across the ice to her.  
  
Sen let herself collapse back onto the ice, the coldness relieving, as cold sweat ran down her forehead.  
  
Yubaba glared, swinging her hand up, and Haku and Taro fell back as if they had hit some sort of invisible wall. Sen grabbed her head again as another pain came to it. Not as bad as the last one, of course. She knew Yubaba was just toying with her. She couldn't help but let out a small whimper as she curled up.  
  
"Stop it!" she heard someone shout. Haku. She heard a growl. Taro. Then she heard something that startled her. A deafening crack. And a flash of light. Despite the pain in her head, she gasped, jumping up. Lightning had struck dangerously close to her. She looked at Yubaba, who looked just as shocked as she did. She stumbled slightly, falling on her knees.  
  
She looked at the sky. There was nothing there - no storm clouds; or any clouds, for that matter. Taro dashed forward, closely followed by Haku. Taro jumped in Sen's lap, growling at Yubaba, and Haku knelt down beside her.  
  
"Sen, are you OK?" They both asked quickly.  
  
"Yea." She blinked, looking now at Yubaba. She rubbed he head slightly, still a little pain in it. They all looked up again, and the sky was full of clouds.  
  
"Woah." Yubaba said, her eyes wide with fear.  
  
"What's going on?" Sen asked to anyone who knew.  
  
"I dunno." Yubaba said blankly, staring at the skies.  
  
It started to pour rain. Sen stood up silently, looking at the numerous cracks on the ice. She tilted her head slightly to Haku, as if telling him to get off the spot where they were standing. He backed up slightly, and Sen picked up Taro. She took a small breath in, jumping away from the spot as far as she could, as the ice under her caved in from the force of her leap.  
  
Yubaba was still staring at the skies. Sen silently put Taro down, running at Yubaba. 


	22. Flying Back

"Sen, No!" Haku gasped as he watched her run at Yubaba, a determined look on her face. Yubaba glanced down, gasped, and turned to face her. But Sen swirved, swiping her hand right past Yubaba.  
  
Yubaba turned and laughed. "You have horrible aim, stupid human!"  
  
Sen looked delighted, holding up her contract, which she had quickly swiped from Yubaba's pocket. Yubaba gasped. "NO!" she shreiked, running at Sen.  
  
Sen, a little started, backed up. She had almost forgotten her contract. Yubaba was running at her. 'Wonderful,' she thought sarcasticly.  
  
She reached down, taking her contract in both hands and ripped it in half. Yubaba didn't stop though. Instead, she drew either a small sword, or a large dagger. Sen couldn't tell, but Yubaba swiped at her, causing her to fall back.  
  
Sen gasped, backing up slightly. Yubaba looked more insane than she ever had right now.  
  
"I'm going to kill you." she whispered in a wavering tone, "Once and for all." She raised the dagger, and Senclosed her eyes.  
  
She felt nothing.  
  
She opened her eyes cautiously, to see that Haku had grabbed the handle of the dagger, and him and Yubaba were having some kind of tug of war. She got up, filtering her anger at Yubaba as she kicked her in the leg as hard as she could. Yubaba shrieked in pain, forgetting the dagger for a moment and grabbing her leg.  
  
Yubaba turned around in a fury and did something slightly unexpected. Smacked Sen. She had completely forgotten about her magic, her only thought of killing this stupid smelly human.  
  
Sen blinked in shock. Her cheek stung, yes, but she didn't move. Why did Yubaba do that, when she could easily kill her with a wave of her hand?  
  
Someone grabbed her wrist. Haku. She grabbed Taro by the scruff, dropping him on her shoulder as they passed. They were running across the lake at an incredible speed. Once they reached the shore, the ice got thinner.  
  
Sen glanced down. As they passed, the ice collapsed from under her. She gasped, grabbing Haku's hand with both of her's as he pulled her out. She alid on her back on the shore, panting. She was so tired she didn't know if she could move. Taro jumped off, and Haku transformed into a dragon. She pulled herself up, with Taro, and they took off into the air. 


	23. Dragged

Sen was tired. Tired beyond all belief. She let out a slow sigh as they soared through the air. The breeze felt so good. She seemed to be in a daze, as if trying to stay awake, but began to drift off to sleep. When...  
  
"She's following us." A small voice said and she jumped slightly, fully awake. She looked down at Taro. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw that Haku did the same. Sen could see merely some sort of dot. But Haku had eyes sharper than a hawk's. It was Yubaba; as a dragon. She was, clearly, bigger, and faster, than he was.  
  
He sped up.  
  
So did she.  
  
She slowly and silently drew nearer. Haku noted that she would catch up very quickly, and swooped downwards. Sen gasped slightly at the sudden change of direction, grasping Haku's horns tighter.  
  
Yubaba was staring at Sen, her eyes narrowed slightly, as if waiting... Haku knew what she was doing; trying to get into Sen's mind. He hadn't had the terror of experiencing it, but had researched, and knew that it would feel like 'the largest mental pain you would ever experience.' He had also read that some had been driven insane by their minds being 'broken into.' Yubaba had the power to do this. Not to an extent to drive one insane, just to sort through one's thoughts. To see what they are thinking, their memories, their secrets. By doing this, she could add to that, having the power to controll someone.  
  
He flew around desperately, hoping, praying, that Sen wouldn't look behind her.  
  
As if Sen was reading his mind, her eyes stayed stubbornly fixed on the land below her. You can only sort through someone's mind if you stare into their eyes.  
  
Haku was so close to the ground. He sped along, a few feet above it. Yubaba was tailing them closely. Haku swooped down at the ridge of a forest, disappearing into it. There he landed, beside a small lake, and Taro and Sen hopped off. They heard whooshing, and snarling, overhead. Haku transformed back into a human, making sure he would not be noticed.  
  
"Sen, don't look at her eyes. She'll get into your mind, and she can controll you." Haku warned quietly. Sen looked almost paranoid. She nodded silently, keeping her eyes on the ground. No sound was heard. It was like that way for minutes. A shiver went down her spine, as if she could sense the presenced of something she didn't like. Haku looked around.  
  
"I suppose she's gone. Come on." He motioned at the two, silently walking into a tiny clearing. Taro trotted after him.  
  
Sen got up to follow, but something tugged her back by the wrist. She cried out slightly as she was jerked back into the darkness of the forest and dragged back.  
  
Haku and Taro spun around. "Sen?" Haku called out loudly. He became very edgy, moving quickly to where he had last seen her. He called her name again, and Taro trotted beside her.  
  
A few minutes after searching, they heard a cry, and ran towards the sound quickly.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mwuhaha! Cliffie. Yes. Thanx, muh reviewers!!! ^^' I shall begin the next chappie immediately! -huggumz-  
  
-Zaekora- 


	24. Mind Games

Sen was dragged to another large clearing, rather far from where her friends were. She struggled against who was holding her, who had his/her hand on her mouth. She slapped it away, crying out loudly, so they would hear her. Just then, she was shoved to the ground, and looked up at her kidnapper. Big mistake.  
  
Haku heard a small thud. He then heard a scream of 'NO' and glanced back at Taro. "Come on!" He shouted, as the sound of gasps and crys became louder. Until a peircing cry caused him to pause in shock. 'Oh, no...' he thought to himself, then rushed on.  
  
Sen looked away in fear, and at her hand, which was supporting her. Yubaba grabbed her wrist, tugging her up, and forcing Sen to look at her. Yubaba smirked lightly, staring into Sen's eyes. "NO!" Sen screamed as she tried to push away, gasping as tears flowed slowly down her cheeks. She wouldn't let Yubaba get into her mind. But Yubaba was too determined. She tugged Sen forward, moving out of the way as Sen again feel to the dirt ground, now on her hands and knees. the moment she even glanced at Yubaba, she screamed, as Yubaba began breaking into her mind.  
  
Haku, who was slightly panting, kicked a bush angrily that was in his way. It was, indeed, taller than him, and very thick. He edged around it quickly, bounding out into a clearing. He gasped, straightening himself up as he stumbled to a stop. Time seemed to freeze at the scene around him:  
  
Sen on her knees, screaming, and clutching her head. Yubaba standing a few feet away from her, with a grin of content, staring at Sen as if in deep thought.  
  
Haku growled, running at Yubaba and shoving her. Sen gasped slightly, collapsing to the ground and sobbing quietly. Yubaba shrieked and tumbled over, the conection to Sen's mind broken.  
  
{ Sen's P.O.V }  
  
It was as if someone was slamming me in the head with a frying pan. But not my head; my mind. It was burning like it was on fire. The forest around me changed, as if I was spinning around quickly so that it was all a blur. My head didn't 'hurt'. Not physicly, at least. As for mentally, it was the worst pain I'd ever experienced. It's as if everything I've ever done; ever thought...my life...was being ripped apart in my head. I couldn't stand it. It was going to drive me insane!  
  
Then, the forest returned, the mental pain gone, just me. And my exhausted self. I was sweating. My head throbbed painfully, and I felt like I had no clue what was going on. I collapsed to the ground and sobbed. It was all I could do. I didn't even feel myself. Haku rammed into Yubaba, sending her to the ground. Taro gasped, as if he had freezed to the spot.  
  
...  
  
What just happened?  
  
{ Back to normal story }  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Yubaba sat up slightly, looking at Sen and smirking. Haku didn't notice, because he dashed to Sen. He helped her sit up. Now was perfect, Yubaba thought.  
  
Sen felt her hands automaticly shove Haku away, and heard herself cry out "NO!"  
  
What was going on? It was as if Haku was trying to kill her. Why did she act like that? She would never do that to him... she stared at him, on the ground, as he stared at her. Both had looks of disbelief on their features.  
  
Sen's gaze shifted from Haku, to her hands. She put on an expression of disgust. She shook her hands slightly, then turned her gaze slowly back to Haku.  
  
She began a sentence, but Haku mouthed the words 'I know.'  
  
"Yubaba controlled you." He whispered so only she could hear.  
  
Yubaba snickered slowly, waving her palm towards Sen.  
  
Sen let out a small cry, jumping back as if she had touched an electric fence. Haku glared at Yubaba. "Leave her alone." His tone was dangerous, almost menacing and threatening.  
  
Yubaba loved torturing the little human. She waved her hand again, and Sen slumped against a tree, grabbing her arm and closing her eyes in pain. She was too tired to cry out, or ever cry, for that matter. She would like nothing more than to die now. She was so mad, she even wished she could kill.  
  
Something hard formed in her hands... 


	25. Dagger

Ssen let out a small breath, inspecting the object that had appeared in her hand. She winced slightly as it pricked her finger. She glanced down and gasped in disbelief. A dagger? Where is all of this coming from?  
  
She sat up slightly, slipping the dagger in her back pocket. She leaned slightly against the tree.  
  
Haku watched Sen curiously. She looked relaxed. But he didn't question it, not even in his mind. He knew she was up to something, and sat back slightly.  
  
He was jerked up by Yubaba, who grabbed his arm. Before he could do anything, though, he was thrown to the ground again.  
  
Sen gritted her teeth, then looked at Haku. "Haku!" She whispered quickly, and he glanced up at her. She smirked, sliding the dagger towards him. Of course, Yubaba caught sight of it.  
  
She growled in anger, running for it. So did the others. But, being a river spirit, Haku reached it first. He snatched it up. Sen stood next to him, and watched as Yubaba backed up, changing into a great black dragon.  
  
She snarled, lowering and preparing to pounce on them. Haku held up the dagger, aiming it at the dragon. Taro quickly scurried under the dragon, snapping his jaws around on of it's legs and biting down.  
  
Yubaba lunged at Haku and Sen, but paused and roared loudly as she shook Taro off. Sen ran forward and just hardly caught Taro, grinning, and whispering her thanks. Yubaba took this moment and charged at Sen.  
  
Sen dropped to the ground quickly and rolled out of the way of Yubaba, panting. As she passed, she clasped onto Yubaba's tail, given a tough tug. Yubaba wasn't tugged back, but stopped. Sen dropped Taro to the ground quickly, climbing onto Yubaba's back and grabbing her horns tightly.  
  
"Haku!" She shouted, glancing at him. He looked shocked, yet tossed her the dagger, and she narrowly caught it. Yubaba threw herself into the air, swooping around violently.  
  
Sen closed her eyes, holding on, putting the dagger in her mouth (X.x). When Yubaba seemed to be sloing down, she grabbed the dagger, thrusting it into the side of the black dragon's neck (You wonder why it's rated PG- 13...).  
  
Sen jerked it out, and Yubaba flipped around in the air. She dropped the dagger, trying desperately to grab onto a horn. Yubaba snarled, jerking sharply to the side.  
  
Sen felt her hand slip from Yubaba's horn. She tried to grab Yubaba's mane, but she was already falling. She saw the ground approching her fast, and she screamed, closing her eyes. 


	26. Going Back

"Sen!" Haku whispered to himself, running under her, in an attempt to catch her, but just got himself fallen on.  
  
Sen glanced down. Haku? She landed on Haku? She grinned slightly to herself, then looked up. And gasped. Yubaba was falling towards them, clearly struggling to get back into flight. But she was dying.  
  
Sen grabbed Haku's sleeve and pulled him off to the side, as Yubaba hit the ground with a sickening thud near where they were laying.  
  
Sen panted, closing her eyes. She opened one and glanced at Haku. He was doing the same.  
  
"You OK?" She asked, letting out a slow sigh.  
  
"Are you?" He looked at me oddly.  
  
I returned to look. "Yup."  
  
Taro bounded over, hopping into my lap. I grinned and hugged Taro, then looked at Haku. She smiled widely, jumping at him and hugging him.  
  
Haku looked shocked, then happy, and hugged Sen back. "Thanks Haku." Sen said, grinning. She backed up slightly when she felt Haku change, and looked up to see a large silver dragon. He lowered slightly, and Sen and Taro hopped on. They took off into the air, on their way to the bathhouse.  
  
Sen hugged close to Haku, smiling to herself. They arrived later at the bathhouse, with many cheers.  
  
Sen hopped off of Haku, smiling. "What's going on?" She asked one frog worker.  
  
"Rin told us all about it!" He said, jumping cheerily. "So, where's Yubaba?"  
  
"Dead." Sen said simply. They cheers died down, then roared again.  
  
"You killed her?!" Came a voice from behind Sen. She turned around to be hug tightly; a little too tightly, by Rin.  
  
"Uh...Yea..." Sen said uncertainly, hugging her back. She smiled. "Me, Haku, and Taro."  
  
Everyone continued cheering, and Haku (human form) walked up behind Sen. "Well, actually, it was you who 'killed' her."  
  
"Yea...well...I would have died if I hadn't landed on you." She said, jokingly pointing an accusing finger. She turned her gaze and her finger to Taro. "And you bit her, remember, and she would have ripped us both to shreds if you hadn't. We did it together." She said proudly.  
  
"Guess you're right." Haku said and grinned. Taro did too. "But what now?"  
  
Rin grabbed Haku's wrist and held it up like he had just won a wrestling match. "Well, you were here apprentance, weren't you?" Rin grinned smugly.  
  
Haku blinked, his eyes wide. "M-Me?" He said quietly.  
  
"Yes, you." Rin said smugly, dropping his arm, and announced, "The bathhouse is under new management!" She said as she pointed quickly at Haku.  
  
Everyone cheered, even Sen and Taro. Haku smiled slightly. 'Managing the bathhouse, huh?' he thought slowly to himself.  
  
"Congrats." Sen said from behind him, smiling. He turned around and she jumped at him, again, as she had at the site where Yubaba had died. She hugged him, and he hugged her back smiling. Taro grinned, sitting on Sen's shoulder, and everyone around them cheered.  
  
-(A/N: KODAK MOMENT! =D -walks off- Sowwy XD)-  
  
THE END  
  
(And they lived happily ever after...Yadda yadda yadda....)  
  
(Or did they?)  
  
(MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: I plan a sequal -smiles cruelly- Yes, yes, a sequel. That would be grand. Yes. And I shall begin it...later! ^^' review please to attract more readers! :)  
  
!Peace out, cub scout!  
  
-Zaekora- 


End file.
